The Lion and the Dragon
by natcat5
Summary: 'Love' was not a word that applied to them. In their world, the red of a romantic rose could not compare to the red of bloodstained hands. Nor did 'love' accurately describe the need to consume and possess each other entirely. England/Fem!China


**This is for the Valentine's gift exchange 'Be my Hetalia' on Livejournal. For full_moon951 3**

**The pairing is England/Fem!China and it's something of a mafia AU. Kinda. **

The Lion and the Dragon 

"Do you believe in love?"

Her hands are on his face, slender fingers tracing his cheekbones, running along his eyelids, ghosting over his lips. Her fingers are soft, but strong, holding his jaw firmly in place whenever his head starts to slip.

At his question, her eyes flicker towards his, and one eyebrow raises. She smiles, and brings her index finger to his lips and leaves it there, threading her other hand through his hair.

"Love?" she echoes, her voice calm but firm as always, "It isn't something I often think about. It doesn't truly pertain to me, you see."

Her fingers travel from his lips, down his chin, dancing across his neck and fiddling with the chain there. Her other hand massages the area behind his ear before scurrying upwards and smoothing out his scruffy eyebrows.

"You say you've never had love in your life?" he asks, eyes lidded under the soothing ministrations of her fingers. One hand is on the small of her back as she sits on her knees, leaning towards him as she explores the contours of his face eagerly. Their legs are touching, and link at the ankle.

"How quickly we forget," she says with an amused chuckle, bringing both hands up to the crown of his head and massaging his temple, "Shall I recount my sad backstory once more, kitten? It delights me to retell, as I'm sure you know."

"There's no need," replies Arthur quickly, "I'm aware of it. I know your life better than I know my own, Yue. As you know mine."

There's something challenging in his voice, and her eyes flicker to his once more and then narrow. She drops her hands slowly, laying them to rest on her thighs as she tilts her head and regards Arthur with a contemplative expression.

"Why Arthur," she asks, feigning mock surprise, "Are you asking me whether or not I'm in love with you?"

A flush of colour blooms on Arthur's cheeks and he recoils slightly, spluttering out denials as Yue simply laughs.

"It's fine really," she says with a smile, silencing his babble with a single finger to his lips. "Don't think I can't read you after all these years, my adorable little kitten."

Yue rises up on her knees, taking Arthur's face in both her hands and pressing her forehead to his. Her eyes are half open, golden and dragon-like as she stares down at the green cat-eyes of the British boy.

"Love," she says wistfully, smiling a bit, "What's that? What is it truly? An emotion, a state of being. What is it?"

Arthur opens his mouth, but her fingers are on his lips again as she moves back slightly, still smiling.

"Is this love?" she asks, moving her hands back to his cheeks and pressing her lips to his. The two of them meld together for a moment, her sliding forward until she is almost in his lap and he pulling her close. Then Yue moves back, separating them with her hands still on his face.

"What makes that love?" she asks, tilting her head to the side. "That I like kissing you? That you like kissing me? That I know your body as if it were my own, as you know mine? That I can guess your every thought by the way your breath catches or how you move, and that you can see past every mask I wear? Even the ones I've been wearing since before I met you?"

Yue smiles, sliding herself forward so that she _is_ in Arthur's lap now, an arm around his neck and her hand on his chest. He wraps an arm around her waist to secure her, letting his hand rest on her thigh.

"Some would argue that all that is indeed love," he replies slowly, as if choosing his words very carefully, "But I suppose you would argue against it?"

Yue makes a humming sound, entwining her legs around one of Arthur's. She drums her fingers against his chest before moving them upwards so that they rest by his collarbone.

"The way I see it," she begins with a calculating look in her eyes, "Love is a term too sugarcoated. It does not convey the truth behind so called 'romantic' relationships."

"Oh?" replies Arthur, raising an eyebrow. "And what truth might this be?"

A smirk upturns Yue's lips and she hooks her fingers into the collar of Arthur's shirt, pulling it down by the shoulder.

"Here," she says, taking her other hand and tracing the dark design standing out boldly against Arthur's skin. "This."

"My tattoo?" asks Arthur quizzically, watching as she runs her fingers down the design with a startling gentleness.

"_Our _tattoo," she corrects, shifting so that the shoulder of her loose dress falls down, revealing the ink adorning her own skin.

"A prowling lion has made its home on my skin," she says, inclining her head slightly towards the intricate design standing out against her shoulder and dancing down her back and upper arm. "Just as a raging dragon has made its home on yours."

Yue leans in and presses her lips to Arthur's tattoo, right between the eyes of the dragon staring out from his own skin. He shivers and she smiles.

"I am your dragon," she murmurs, not removing her lips, "And you are my lion. We belong to each other. We are a part of one another."

Yue snaps upwards, shifting so that she is straddling Arthur's hips, her arms around his neck once more.

" 'Love' is a word I dislike." She says simply. "It is a word that foolish, wishful people use. Wishing for some fairy tale romance with a prince to sweep them off their feet. A fanfare of trumpets and red rose petals. No."

Yue presses her forehead to Arthur's again, smiling with golden eyes glittering.

"I am yours and you are mine. But there is nothing fairy tail about us," she whispers, eyelashes leaving butterfly kisses on his skin. "You are my lion. You prowl and hunt for me. Your hands are stained red, not with rose petals, but with the blood of those you've killed for me. Your eyes sparkle not with the light of some overflowing happiness or the discovery of finding 'the one', but with the feral light of a hunter. A killer. You look at me with those eyes. Not eyes full of warmth, but with eyes full of a raging fire. Wanting to do nothing but consume me entirely. Take everything. You want me and need me, Arthur. You'd do anything for me. I am your life as you are mine. Because I have killed for you as well. I marked my sign on you when you we were just children because even then I knew you were mine and mine alone. I want to possess you. I _do _possess you. Your life is mine, as mine is yours. Love is not a factor."

She smiles again, watching as his eyes churn and digest her words. Arthur, though he is ruthless and cunning and more than a bit crazy, is hopeless in that he is still set in the ideas of the world. He, despite being the consort of the Heiress to a criminal empire, still conforms to society's laws. His belief in chivalry had been nothing but a pain in her side in the old days. Convincing him that she could fight and was capable of kicking his ass was no small task. He is also a hopeless romantic, and while getting cute plushies every once and while is nice, Yue wants her lion with his teeth sharp and claws ready. Love really has no place in their world.

"Ice cold dragon," he murmurs softly, running his hands gently up and down her sides, "That's what you are."

"Did I hurt your feelings?" she asks, looking not the least bit sorry and rather amused.

"I suppose you merely dashed my plans of sweeping you off your feet," he replies, looking just a bit put out. "Love, however improbable, is a nice thought."

"A white picket fence with 2 and a half little mixed children? Is that what you were thinking of?" teases Yue. "That fence would have to be made of iron and steel. Our garden would be seeded with bullets and the foundation to our house would be made up of corpses. Don't forget the world we live in, kitten."

"Never," he says firmly, before sweeping aside her hair and pressing his lips to her neck.

"I suppose it really doesn't matter," he mutters, allowing his hands to roam more freely across her body. "You're mine and I'm yours, and that really is all there is to it."

Yue smiles.

"Entangled together in their world of fire and blood," she murmurs, eyes half-closing.

"The Lion and the Dragon."

**/**

**Lol can you tell I wrote this at 2 AM? XDDD Anyways, I hope you guys liked this. I do love England/China, and I've had an idea for a crime AU with them for awhile. I didn't really plan on pursuing the idea as I don't have the time, so I projected it onto this prompt. **

**Do leave your thoughts! Was it good? Did you like it? I had fun writing it (Even though I was half asleep). X3 **

**xoxo, natcat5 ;p**


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